“If the pulpit be silent, whenever or wherever there may be a sinner, bloody with this guilt, within the hearing of its voice, the pulpit is false to its trust.”
—D. Webster.
Wake! children of the men who said,
“All are born free!”—Their spirits come
Back to the places where they bled
In Freedom’s holy martyrdom,
And find you sleeping on their graves
And hugging there your chains,—ye slaves!
Ay,—slaves of slaves! What, sleep ye yet,
And dream of Freedom, while ye sleep?
Ay,—dream, while Slavery’s foot is set
So firmly on your necks,—while deep
The chain her quivering flesh endures
Gnaws, like a cancer, into yours?
Hah! say ye that I’ve falsely spoken,
Calling you slaves?—Then prove ye’re not;
Work a free press!—ye’ll see it broken;
Stand to defend it!—ye’ll be shot.—
O yes! but people should not dare
Print what “the brotherhood” won’t bear!
Then from your lips let words of grace,
Gleaned from the Holy Bible’s pages,
Fall, while ye’re pleading for a race
Whose blood has flowed through chains for ages;—
And pray,—”Lord, let thy kingdom come!”
And see if ye’re not stricken dumb.
Yes, men of God! ye may not speak,
As, by the Word of God, ye’re bidden;
By the pressed lip,—the blanching cheek,
Ye feel yourselves rebuked and chidden;
And, if ye’re not cast out, ye fear it;—
And why?—”The brethren” will not hear it.
Since, then, through pulpit, or through press,
To prove your freedom ye ‘re not able,
Go,—like the Sun of Righteousness,
By wise men honored,—to a stable!
Bend there to Liberty your knee!
Say there that God made all men free!
Even there,—ere Freedom’s vows ye’ve plighted,
Ere of her form ye’ve caught a glimpse,
Even there, are fires infernal lighted,
And ye’re driven out by Slavery’s imps.
Ah, well!—”so persecuted they
The prophets” of a former day!
Go, then, and build yourselves a hall,
To prove ye are not slaves, but men!
Write “Freedom,” on its towering wall!
Baptize it in the name of Penn;
And give it to her holy cause,
Beneath the
(John Pierpont)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, God Poems, Dreams Poems, Place Poems, Name Poems, Sleep Poems, Work & Career Poems, People Poems, Speaking Poems, Children Poems, Liberty & Freedom PoemsBased on Keywords: hah, pray-, chains-, ay-, lip-